Eleanor Sonsini Shelter Hoping to Buy Time with Community Support
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Time. That is what the manager of the Eleanor Sonsini Animal Shelter is asking for.
On Friday, the shelter's board of directors announced on social media that the facility on Crane Avenue will be closing, citing financial constraints and insufficient space.
Soon after, shelter manager Noelle Howland created a GoFundMe page that has since garnered more than $25,000 of its $30,000 goal. Her goal is to buy time and move toward securing a better building.
"Either I buy us time or, hopefully, we will get a good chunk of change and we can stay open and eventually just get out of here," she said.
In 2018, the city pulled its contract to take stray animals to Sonsini and the nonprofit shelter was ordered to leave the municipal-owned building in Downing Industrial Business Park. This brought operations to a smaller location at 875 Crane Ave., which was intended to be temporary.
"People are aware of the conditions we're in," Howland said. "And I don't want to buy time to stay here for good because this is not conditions they should be in."
The shelter needs a generally larger space with more place for the dog kennels, a larger outdoor space for dog pens, a separate area for cats that is not combined with the office, and ideally a place for meet and greets.
The board estimated that $90,000 to $100,000 will be needed to stay open and fund six months of operation. It had originally eyed the end of August for a closing date but Howland was told that even a couple thousand dollars will delay the closing.
Due to the facility's high costs for heating, the board wants to be out of the facility for winter. This means finding homes for the dogs and cats while efforts to save the shelter are underway.
There are currently seven dogs and 12 cats at Eleanor Sonsini and eight cats in foster care.
Howland emphasized the importance of the public being aware of the shelter's needs. Monetary donations, supply donations, and of course adoptions are great ways to support the no-kill facility.
There are a good amount of applications for cats but the staff want to make sure that all of the lovable K9s find a great forever home.
More information on available animals can be found here.
Tags: animal shelter,
